Nicolò Bulega takes the lead in SBK with a large advantage over his teammate Bautista, Razgatlıoğlu (fifth) crashing at Misano 2.
The second Friday free practice session of the SBK recently ended and, after a morning marked by Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, the Ducatis responded in kind with a one-two in the afternoon of the 2024 Emilia-Romagna Round.
Nicolò Bulega excelled in FP2 of the top series category. The Emilian driver, who is home here, lapped in 1:33.511, completing a series of consecutive top-level laps in the second half of the session, finishing 0.4 seconds ahead of Álvaro Bautista. The only flaw in “Bubi’s” session concerns an off-track exit which occurred at the penultimate bend of the Carro, with the Panigale V4R #11 which risked covering up in the sand.
Much worse damage, however, for Razgatlıoğlu in this session. The leader of FP1, while he was going for a fast lap, took a swing at the entrance to Misano 2 and, while trying to enter the corner anyway, lost the front and fell. His BMW suffered serious damage, but he emerged physically unscathed from the fall.
Since “Razga” never went out on track again after the mistake he made, he only finished in fifth place, while the top three was completed by Remy Gardner. In a difficult morning for the official Crescent Pata team (with Andrea Locatelli crashing out at the Rio and Jonathan Rea only 13th), the Australian once again proved to be the best of the Yamaha riders, finishing just 0″008 behind Bautista, ahead of the third Ducati in the standings led by Andrea Iannone (certainly better than what we saw in the tests).
The surprise of the day is Iker Lecuona, who achieved sixth place aboard a slightly more competitive Honda CBR1000RR-R than expected on the eve of the round. The Valencian is, after Razgatlıoğlu, the second driver over ’34 and precedes the brothers Alex and Sam Lowes.
The future Bimota rider finished in seventh place ahead of the Ducati rider, while Dominique Aegerter and Michael Ruben Rinaldi came in ninth and tenth place, respectively on Yamaha and Ducati.
Here are the results of the session, the drivers’ times and the combination of the two SBK sessions.
Image source: arubaracing.it
Read also
All the latest news from P300.it
Reproduction, even if partial, of the contents published on P300.it is prohibited without written authorization to be requested from [email protected].
